I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how quickly our world is changing. When I was growing up, the idea of talking to a computer and having it answer complex questions belonged in science fiction. Today, artificial intelligence can do just that. Medicine continues to advance at an astonishing pace. Scientists can edit genes. Technology has transformed nearly every part of our daily lives.

With so much changing around us, it’s natural to wonder whether our understanding of right and wrong should change as well. After all, the Bible was written thousands of years ago. It doesn’t mention artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, or many of the questions that dominate today’s headlines.

So how do we know whether God’s Word still speaks to our generation? As I reflected on that question, my mind kept returning to something Isaiah wrote centuries ago:

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8 (ESV)

Isaiah understood something that every generation eventually discovers. Everything around us changes. Nations rise and fall. Ideas that seem unquestionable today are often replaced tomorrow. Even science, wonderful as it is, keeps moving forward because we are always learning something new.

But Isaiah says there is one thing that does not change. God’s Word. That doesn’t mean the Bible answers every modern question by name. It doesn’t. Instead, it gives us something even more important. It reveals who God is. It tells us who we are. It explains why our world is broken and what God’s purpose is for His creation. Those truths become the foundation from which we approach questions the biblical writers never specifically addressed.

During my years as a dermatopathologist, residents would sometimes ask how I made a difficult diagnosis. There was no shortcut. You couldn’t begin with the diagnosis you hoped was correct and then search for evidence to support it. You had to let the evidence speak for itself. 

I’ve come to believe we should read the Bible the same way. Too often we begin with our opinions and ask Scripture to confirm them. A better question is this: “What was God saying when He inspired these words?” That requires patience. It requires humility. It requires a willingness to admit that I may have misunderstood something. It also requires trusting that God has spoken clearly enough for us to know Him and to follow Him.

Some of the most difficult conversations in the church today revolve around subjects that sincere Christians disagree about. Human sexuality is one example. The roles of men and women in the church are another. There are many others.

Before asking, “What does the Bible say about this issue?” perhaps we should ask an even more basic question: How should we read the Bible in the first place? Should we assume that every command was intended only for the culture in which it was written? Or should we ask whether that teaching reflects an unchanging truth about God and His design for humanity?

Those aren’t easy questions, and thoughtful Christians have wrestled with them for centuries. What encourages me is the example of the Bereans. When Paul came to Berea, they didn’t reject his teaching because it challenged what they already believed. But they didn’t accept it blindly either. They opened the Scriptures. They searched. They examined. They wanted to know what God had actually said (Acts 17:11).

That has always been my hope for this blog. Not that you would simply agree with me. Not that I would always be right. But that together we would keep opening God’s Word with humble hearts, asking Him to teach us.

The world will continue to change. New questions will arise. Future generations will face ethical issues we can’t even imagine today. But if Isaiah is right—and I believe he is—our confidence is not in keeping up with every cultural change. Our confidence is in the God whose Word does not change.

My prayer is simple. Lord, keep me from reading my ideas into Your Word. Instead, help me hear what You have already said.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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